Texas newspapers earn state, national honors

NEW YORK – The Houston Chronicle and The Dallas Morning News were finalists in the 2017 Pulitzer Prizes announced April 10.
The Houston Chronicle was recognized as a finalist in two categories. The newspaper’s series of articles exposing “the grave injustice of arbitrary cost-cutting by the State of Texas that denied tutoring, counseling and other vital special education services to tens of thousands of children” was a finalist in public service. In addition, Chronicle writers Joe Holley and Evan Mintz were finalists in editorial writing for editorials on gun laws, gun culture and gun tragedies.
The Dallas Morning News staff’s coverage of the July 7, 2016 shooting spree that killed five police officers and injured nine others during a downtown rally earned finalist status in the breaking news category.
Through online media, the staff provided continuous coverage for more than nine hours, telling many stories of heroism as the injured were evacuated and the shooter was tracked down. The print edition included a timeline of the tragedy, a complete review of the incident as well as in-depth coverage of the investigation and many facets of the aftermath.
For a complete list of Pulitzer Prize winners, see the website, http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2017.
News about other awards earned by Texas newspapers for outstanding work in 2016 follows.

The Dallas Morning News has earned the prestigious “Grand Slam” award from the Associated Press Sports Editors’ annual contest in the over-175,000 circulation division. The “Grand Slam” is a Top 10 finish in four categories including website/mobile platforms, daily section, Sunday section and special section.
The Morning News has been awarded the “Triple Crown” from APSE 23 times, winning in all three section categories. With the recent redesign to SportsDayDFW.com, the sports department was honored as a Top 10 website, catapulting the Morning News to a “Grand Slam” winner for the first time.
The APSE contest is an annual competition that selects the best in sports journalism from newspapers and websites across the United States. Judging of work published in 2016 by sports editors and journalists took place Feb. 22–26 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. APSE judges initially recognize 10 winners per writing category and a second panel will meet this spring to rank the finalists.
Winners can be seen on the APSE website, apsportseditors.com/category/in-the-news/.

ATLANTIC CITY – The Dallas Morning News won 14 National Headliner Awards for its work in 2016, including four first-place prizes. Many of The News’ Headliner awards are for work related to the coverage of last summer’s deadly police ambush.
The News’ coverage of the ambush won first place in spot news, editorial writing and the photo essay/story category.
The newspaper staff also garnered first-, second- and third-place awards in other categories, including local interest column writing, business writing, informational graphics, spot news photography, feature photography, sports photography, sports writing, criticism and feature column writing.
The Houston Chronicle won first place in public service performed by publishing material in a daily newspaper for the series “Denied: How Texas Keeps Thousands of Children Out of Special Education” by Brian M. Rosenthal. Chronicle writer Jenny Deam won third place in health, medical and science writing for “The Uncovered,” an investigative series on how health care reform has created both opportunities and hardships for Texas families because of little-known loopholes, lawmakers’ decisions and snafus.
The Austin American-Statesman took third place for local news beat coverage or continuing story for Tony Plohetski’s “Police Watchdog” work.
The complete list of National Headliner Awards is available at www.headlinerawards.org/.

COLUMBIA, MO – Two Texas daily newspapers were among the winners in the American Society of News Editors awards.
Dallas Morning News photojournalists were honored for their coverage of last summer’s deadly police ambush.
The achievement was among awards presented for the best writing, photography and digital storytelling in 2016.
The News was recognized in two other categories:
Editorial writer Sharon Grigsby was named a finalist for the Burl Osborne Award for Editorial Leadership. The award, named after the former News publisher, recognized her work on Baylor University’s sexual abuse scandal.
The News staff was a finalist for breaking news writing for its coverage of the police ambush. Five officers died when Micah Johnson opened fire on Main Street during a protest against police shootings nationwide.
The Houston Chronicle was a finalist for the Batten Medal, honoring achievement in public service journalism, for the series ”Denied: How Texas Keeps Tens of Thousands of Children out of Special Education.” Houston Chronicle writer Lisa Falkenberg was a finalist for the Mike Royko Award for Commentary/Column Writing for her article, “Couple Fights for Foster Kids.”
The full list of awards is available on the ASNE website, www.asne.org.

2017 Barbara Jordan Media Awards

DENTON – Adam Pitluck, a former reporter and editor at The Dallas Morning News, said he chose to be a journalist even though he has dyslexia. Pitluck’s piece for the News about research into ways to diagnose dyslexia earlier in childhood was one of 12 award winners at 2017 Barbara Jordan Media Awards Luncheon at Apogee Stadium on the campus of the University of North Texas.
The Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities presents the awards annually to journalists and students who wrote about the realities people with disabilities face. This year, the UNT Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism hosted the event.
In photo journalism, Jay Janner and James Gregg of the Austin American-Statesman were awarded for “Paralyzed Triathlete Strives to Race Again,” a video and photo essay about Austin triathlete Laurie Allen’s work to recover from a paralyzing spinal cord injury.
Matthew Payne, a Denton Record-Chronicle intern reporter, was awarded for a story about a veteran biking 900 miles to raise awareness about post traumatic stress disorder and suicide.
For a list of the 2017 winning works, including links to the articles, broadcasts and photos, visit http://gov.texas.gov/disabilities/awards/barbara_jordan_media_awards/.

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